Anchor for safety-treads



C. V. FOLIN.

ANCHOR FOR SAFETY TREADS.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 10. 1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1- 1,359,978. Patented Nov. 23, 1920.

M gnuewfo $1 attozwzu UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CAIUS V. FOLIN, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR. T0 AMERICAN ABRASIVE METALS COMPANY, OF NEW YOBK,-N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

ANCHOR FOR SAFETY-TREADS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 23, 1920.

Application filed January 10, 1917. Serial No. 141,517.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, CAII'S V. FoLrN, a citizen of the llnited States, and a resident of the borough of the Bronx, city of New York, county of the Bronx, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Anchors for Safety- Treads, of which the following is a specification.

The invention has reference. to means for anchoring certain objects in their assigned positions. whether resting upon a primary support or depending therefrom, and it particularly appertains to an improved method of and facilities for securing in place the anti-slip, wear-resisting sections of safety treads, such for instance as are employed to form a protective covering on the treading surface of a concrete stairway.

Briefly expressed, in so far as it relates to safety stair treads, the invention may be said to consist in the use of a plurality of hollow anchor members of peculiar configu ration, adapted to be embedded in the concrete or other self-hardening plastic matter of which the body of the stairs is composed, and having each a longitudinal cleft, slot. or fissure enlarged at a suitable place, preferably at or near the center, and designed to receive, and along which may be moved, a slidable holding element previously passed through a tread section, the arrangement being such that the several sections can be properly positioned in parallelism with one another for permanent anchorage upon the said members, and will permit any one among them to be readily removed and replaced thereafter. without disturbing the adjacent sections, as well as taking up and renewing the aggregate thereof, according as circumstances or conditions of service may necessitate.

Considered in its application to a concrete staircase as above outlined, the invention has for its object, primarily, to provide an improved anchorage of the character set forth, to which a safety tread can be expeditiously fitted and aflixed, even by inexperienced mechanics. and which shall be capable of firmly holding the tread in an easily removable manner for replacement when desired, either entirely or in sections, without interference from the proximate parts, as before intimated.

A furtherobject is to produce a perfectly reliable and economical anchoring medium of the type referred to, which will normally be concealed from view, and remain unexposed to abrasion or to climatic influences at all times, whilemaintaining the treads rigidly set in their respective positions.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will in part be obvious, and in part be brought out in the course of the following description.

Referring to the drawings hereto annexed, for a disclosure of the invention in detail:

Figure 1 is a perspective View showing part of a staircase to which the invention has been applied, some of the lowermost tread sections being removed to expose the means for anchoring the same;

Fig. 2 is a broken plan view of the two bottom steps in the said staircase, without any tread on thelower anchors;

Fig. 3 is a transverse section on the line 33 of Fig. 2, looking toward the left Fig. 4 is a vertical section along the irregtially closed form of anchor member, preferred for new constructions; and

Fig. 6 is a similar View of an open form of anchor member, available for application to old structures.

Corresponding parts are denoted by the same reference numerals throughout the specification and drawings.

The said anchor members, in either of the forms above mentioned. consist preferably of hollow blocks. as 11. designed to be used in spaced relation at suitable intervals apart to support sections of safety tread. as 12, 13. placed together in juxtaposition. Fig. 1 illustrates, by way of example. one method of laying down these tread sections. and anchoring them to the said hollow blocks, which is considered both apposite and effective. though. it may be varied in several respects without departing from the underlying principle of the invention. As

there shown, the blocks 11 are embedded in a sub-tread 14, of concrete, formed in the usual manner onabody 15, of same material. The tread sections 12, 13 are made to overlie'the embedded blocks by superimposition transversely of the face thereof, and are respectively fixed to the latter by means of the holding elements hereinafter described.

As exemplified in Figs. 1 to '5, the preferred species of block or anchor member 11 for the treads of new stairways is of oblong shape and of uniform cross-sectional area throughout. It is formed with a laterally-extended base 18, conveniently made rectangular as shown, which insures a safe hold in the self-hardenin material constituting the sub-tread 14. This base may also have holes drilled therein atthe edges, as at 19, Fig. 5, to provide an easy means of attachment to'some extraneous support (not shown). The body portion of the block 11 rises centrally from the base 18, up to the desired height, and its opposite sides may either. be vertical or inclined, at option. \Vhen beveled, as represented in the drawings, the body of the block assumes a pyramidal outline in cross-section, and it may then be used without the lateral projections at the base, that is, it can be made coextensive therewith at the bottom since the beveling will afford the needed hold in the subtread. If the projections of the base are retained, the side walls of the block in that case may be made perpendicular thereto, as the basal extension alone will suffice to maintain the block securely in position. Thus. either the bevel of the block or the base thereof is capable of keeping it in place when embedded in a plastic mass of selfhardening material. and likewise affords a ready means of setting it firmly in recesses that may be cut therefor into already hardened surfaces, previously completed. The block, preferably, is made of cast-iron in one piece, though it could be stamped from sheet-metal and composed of plural parts as well, if desired, or manufactured in any other approved manner.

When used in building new concrete stairs or similar structures, the hollow block 11 is generally closed at the bottom, as at 22, and likewise supplied with closed ends 23, 24, to prevent inflow of the cement or other plastic substances wherein it is embedded. The block, itY-will be seen, is all but covered by the plastic matter, which is leveled off flush with its upper surface. Where, however, the material is originally hard or has set previously, the block in such cases may be quite open, as more particularly explained hereinafter. -Being hollow, the said block 11, althoug embedded in the sub-tread 14. provides a chamber therein which is utilized for the anchoring of the before mentioned safety elements presently to be described. Various forms of such elements may be availed of, but in practice it is found convenient to use screw-bolts and nuts, as 27, 28, respectively adapted to engage the tread sections and the sublying parts of the hollow blocks. To this end, the upper exposed face of each block 11 is formed with a slot 29, extending approximately the entire length thereof, in order to provide a passage and slideway for the shank-of any of the bolts 27. Besides, the slot 29 is enlarged, as at 31, preferably intermediately of its own length, to enable any of the nuts 28 to enter the said chamber, or to be withdrawn therefrom, as may be required. As shown, the screw-bolts have flat, tapering heads, which are countersunk in the outer faces of'the safety treads, and the nuts on their threaded ends are of quadrangular formation and confined within the interior walls of the hollow block sufficiently close to prevent them from turning. No wedges or other tightening accessories are required for that purpose in this construction. i

It will be noted that the slot 29 extends far enough in a longitudinal direction to accommodate the holding elements for a couple of tread sections, and further to allow the sliding thereof to the chosen location. The enlargement 31 virtually forms but one opening with the slot in the exposed face of the block 11, which permits free insertion and retraction of the holdingPelements one after another in succession. referably and as shown, this enlargement is situated midway between the opposite ends of the slot, so that all of the nuts on the screw-bolts, or equivalent holding. devices, can be introduced consecutively into or drawn out of the chamber in the block through a single aperture.

To apply the anchorage to an old staircase, it is necessary to make suitable recesses in the existing sub-treads so as to provide settings or resting places for the several anchors desi ned to support the safety tread sections. T he screw bolts having been slipped through holes provided therefor in these sections-the nuts are attached loosely to their threadedends, and while it hangs low each nut pertaining to one end or other part of a tread section .is'passed in its order through the enlarged aperture 31 in the slotted face of the block lying directly underneath. The bolts are long enough to allow the nuts in each case to penetrate into the chamber below the enlarged aperture in the adjacent block, and also admit of the bolt shanks being slid forward and backward alongthe slot above the chamber until the tread sections carrying them have reached the positions desired. After the treads are seated. the bolts are screwed down causing the nuts to ascend on their threaded ends and to become tightened between the inner walls of the block chambers confining the same. When fully taken up, the nuts engage the slotted tops of the anchor blocks, on the underside, as illustrated.

In applying the anchorage to a new stairwayin process of erection, the better practice is first to assemble the hollow blocks and safety tread sectionspertaining to each step, and after securely fastening all of the parts together, set the combination in the sub-tread while it is in a plastic condition. The closed bottoms and ends of the blocks, it is understood, will prevent the plastic matter from filling or even entering the chambers in the divers blocks.

If it be desired to remove any section of the anchored tread, the bolts fastening the same are simply loosened, and the section comes off upon sliding them back along the anchor slots and passing the nuts thereto attached through the enlarged apertures of the latter, that is, merely by reversing the mode of precedure followed in laying down the tread sections for actual use on the stairs. In case some of the bolt heads are rusted fast on account of external ex osure,

or have become too badly worn to permlt their being turned with an ordinary tool, they can be broken or cut off, and the bolt shanks and nuts allowed to fall into the elongated chambers in the anchor blocks, from which they are afterward easily withdrawn. Thus, each one of these chambers may fill the threefold function of guiding the bolts,

confining the nuts thereon, and serving as a recipient for broken parts. The old section of tread having been removed, the re- I placing section may then be applied in the At all events,'

maner recited hereinabove. it will be appreciated that any one of the sections can be taken up and replaced quite independently of the neighboring sections.

A notable feature of the invention resides in that the peeulianstructure of the anchor blocks permits them to be placed at some distance back of the riser in any of the stair steps, where they are completely hidden from sight by the safety treads, and meanwhile fully protected against casual injury. And in general practice it is much preferred to embed the blocks in the plastic material in rear of the riser, as it is desirable, first, to have a continuous cement finish along the nosing face thereof, and secondly, if the anchors are set back in the prescribed manner, they will be in no danger-of eventually becoming exposed because the cementmay ch lp off in front of the same.

.he form of anchor block represented by Fig. 6 differs from the one hereinbefore described only in that the base thereof is open centrally, as at 85, and its opposite ends 36, 37 are likewise uncovered. This open species of anchor'block is particularlystairs, it will be observed that it can be applied to other structures as well, and in fact is capable of being used advantageously wherever there is occasion to anchorlsome article firmly-in masses of concrete, cement, plaster, or other self-hardening material composing floors, Walls, ceilings, etc.

In its broader aspect, the invention is not restricted to the precise details of construction herein described and illustrated, as obviously numerous changes can be effected in the same without departing from the fundamental principle of the invention or sacrificing its chief advantages.

What I claim is:

series of anchorages embedded therein and In combination with a concrete step, a

disposed transversely thereof at intervals,

and terminating at their front ends rearward of the front edge of the step, said anchorages consisting each of a horizontal base, side walls extending upwardly therefrom and a top portion uniting the upper ends of the walls, said top portions being disposed flush with the upper face of the step and being provided with longitudinal slots,-a tread plate extending longitudinally of the step across the several anchorages and projecting forwardly of the front ends of the anchorages and supported at its front by the front portion of the step, and fastening devices connected with the tread plate and extending through the slots and engaged beneath the 'top portions of the anchorages.

In testimony whereof, I have slgned my name to this specification.

CAIUS V. FOLIN. 

